Heavy rains hit peninsular Malaysia in December, leading to severe floods that resulted in at least 21 deaths and the displacement of some 200,000 residents in the states of Kelantan,…
Male Araripe manakins (Antilophia bokermanni) have bright plumage, while the females are olive green in color. Photo by Rick Elis Simpson. In an 11-square mile strip of forest on the…
Sumatra is home to many threatened and unique species, such as the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii). Photo by Rhett A. Butler. For over a decade, a conflict has…
Acacia seedlings are grown and planted in and around communities in Lampung, Sumatra, to help relieve logging pressures on natural forest. Photo by Ridzki R. Sigit. The village of Pekandangan…
Reef manta rays (Manta alfredi) swim off Nusa Penida in Indonesia. Photo Credit: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace For the first time, Indonesia has sentenced an illegal manta ray trafficker to jail time…
Bonoran community members sustainably harvest bamboo from the surrounding forest to build traditional houses. Photo by Eko Rusdianto. "If we don't have forests, community grounds, burial place, and rice fields...…
Tall, forested mountains surround the village of Demaisi in West Papua. Photo by Duma Tato Sanda. A half-kilometer south of the village of Demaisi, Yohan Ullo pulls weeds from his…
Photograph of newly described frog (Limnonectes larvaepartus) (male, left, and female) from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is the only frog known that gives direct birth to tadpoles.…
Forest along a stream near Setulang. Photo by Yustinus S. Hardjanto. During Indonesia’s 2014 national census, 848 people were recorded living in the village of Setulang, an hour’s drive from…
In 1970 researchers uncovered the Tandayapa Andean toad (Andinophryne olallai), previously unknown to science, in the Pichincha Province of Ecuador. Given that only a single individual was discovered, even after…
This is the second in a two-part series about advances in mapping technology and how they're being used to keep a closer eye on the world's forests. Read the first…
The forests of the Bukit Barisan mountains support high levels of biodiversity, prevent landslides, and protect local watersheds. Photo by Sapariah Saturi. Television inspired Syafrizal to act. As he watched…
This is the first in a two-part series about advances in mapping technology and how they're being used to keep a closer eye on the world's forests. Read the second…
China's Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia to its north and east, contains 18.5 million hectares of state forest - more natural forest than any other province in the country. However,…
Since the 1950s, plantations and second-growth forests in China have been locally managed by village communities as collective forests, which today account for 58 percent of China's forestland. Many of…
Deforestation near Lake Sentani, Papua. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Despite being covered in commodity concessions and viewed by some as becoming a focal point for the Indonesian government’s palm…
Coffee-growing is an important part of the economy of Semende. Photo by R. Ridzki Sigit. The rolling green hills covered in rice paddies and coffee plantations give Semende in the…
Borneo consistently makes the list of the world’s “biodiversity hotspots” – areas full of a wide variety of forms of life found nowhere else, but which are also under threat.…
Climate change could make life more difficult for the world’s rarest chimpanzee subspecies, reported a team of scientists in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology on Tuesday. The range of the…
Screenshot of Wilmar's transparency dashboard Wilmar, the world's largest palm oil company, has unveiled a tool it says will help eliminate deforestation from its global supply chain. The tool is…
A resident of Indudur at work in the fields. Photo by Diana Elviza. The forest behind Indudur village clings to the steep hillside. The topography itself is enough to protect…
A new study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examines how California’s forests have changed since the 1930s--and, according to its authors, can help us understand…
Aiming to be the world’s largest purveyor of sustainable cacao, a company is developing a plantation in the Amazon that scientists say comes at the expense of primary forest A…
Deforestation in Riau, Sumatra in 2014. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. When Indonesia's former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared a moratorium in May 2012 on the issuance of new permits…
Forest loss in five Malaysian states affected by flooding in Dec 2015. Five states hard hit by flooding last month in Malaysia had high rates of forest loss in recent…
A Cerekang district resident in a traditional canoe, which is a major mode of local transportation. Photo by Eko Rusdianto. Home to some 400 fishermen, Manurung village appears unremarkable at…
A farmer from the village of Pamulukkang with his cocoa tree. Photo by Revelation Chandra. Irda tends to his two-hectare timber plantation in Pamulukkang Forest at the base of Tanete…
The rainforests of South America face many threats. The deforestation occurring on the continent is among the highest in the world and results in losses of habitat, biodiversity and massive…
The village of Ngata Toro abuts protected forest in Lore Lindu National Park. Photo by Chris Paino. Ngata Toro borders Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi about a three-hour…
Namu village is surrounded by forested hills between Lore Lindu National Park and a conservation forest. They recently regained access to the forest, which they depend on for their way…